Correspondence

This Collection consists primarily of English, German, Hebrew, and French language correspondence concerning Reform Judaism, Zionism; the founding of the American Jewish Historical Society; the Jewish Publication Society; B'nai B'rith; the legal position of Jews in England and the United States with particular reference to the Naturalization Acts; the religious and social life and the history of Jews in Russia and Poland; Bible readings in public schools; the study of Jesus in Jewish Sabbath Schools; anti-slavery issues in the Fremont Campaign in 1856; and other correspondence pertaining to his numerous activities.

This collection primarily contains correspondence between Leo Landau and his wife Charlotte Landau (née Mühsam). During their respective frequent travels, Leo for his legal work and for recuperation at spas, and Charlotte for the Jüdischer Frauenbund, they often wrote almost every day. The collection also contains some other correspondence, personal materials, and documents concerning Leo Landau's lifelong involvement with Jewish organizations such as the B'nai B'rith lodges in Lübeck and Haifa and the Israelitische Gemeinde Lübeck, and Charlotte's membership in the Lübeck city council from 1919-1921.

The file contains various materials pertaining David Mannheim.

This collection holds personal and official documents, correspondence, genealogical information, biographical manuscripts and photographs related to the Feith, Lyon and Katz families. Most of the documents pertain to Erna Bonette, Fred Gustav and their son Henry Arthur Katz. The collection focuses on their lives in Germany and the United States as well as their emigration via Luxemburg and Portugal. It also holds materials pertaining to members of the extended Katz and Lyon families and their ancestors, including the Feith family. Also included is material about a Mikveh from the 15th century in Siegburg, Germany.

The General Jewish Council was an umbrella organization founded by the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, B’nai B’rith, and Jewish Labor Committee in order to coordinate their rights defense activities.

The bulk of the records in this collection date between from 1938-1944, the active years of the Council. Materials consist primarily of correspondence, minutes, memoranda, and reports.

This collection contains materials, primarily correspondence and by laws, relating to chapters of the Jewish fraternal benevolent society B’nai B’rith that were founded in German-speaking central Europe beginning in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Contains manuscript and published material from Zionist, rabbinic, and other national Jewish organizations; and from various local Jewish community organizations relating to fund-raising drives, protest demonstrations, and other activities on behalf of Israel. Also contains copies of letters and telegrams sent by various individuals to American government officials and to Arab leaders; published statements of President Lyndon B. Johnson and various U.S. Congressmen; reactions of private American citizens, both Jewish and non-Jewish; personal letters written from Israel during the crisis; several scholarly studies and clippings from various Yiddish, Anglo-Jewish, and Israeli newspapers pertaining to the conflict; and an extensive collection of material from Dr. Nelson Glueck regarding his experiences during and after the war.

The Jewish Press Agencies Collection consists of press reports that document the events of 1933-1935 in Nazi Germany, with a focus on the persecution of German Jews. The bulk of the material derives from reports of the Jewish Central Information Office, although Inpress and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency are also represented. Almost the entirety of the collection consists of reports, but there are also photocopies of various documents, timelines and a few publications.

The Leo Baeck Family Collection documents the lives and influential events of members of the Baeck and Berlak families, specifically Leo Baeck, Ruth and Hermann Berlak, and Marianne and A. Stanley Dreyfus. Most prominent is the documentation on Leo Baeck's life; other salient themes include the World War I experience of Hermann Berlak and the Dreyfuses' involvement in preserving the memory of Leo Baeck's life and teachings. The collection includes extensive correspondence; a large accumulation of articles, especially those focused on Leo Baeck; a smaller amount of personal papers, manuscripts, drafts and notes; and a few photographs and slides.

The collection contains correspondence, documents, and newspaper clippings relating to the life and activities of Obermayer in local and national Jewish organizations. Includes: correspondence and other materials concerning the Board of Public Education of Philadelphia on which he served as member and then president 1955-1961 (of special interest are the papers pertaining to communism in the schools, educational television, and the problems of minority students); the American Jewish Historical Society of which he served as a member, president and chairman of the Exec. Council (of special interest is the material pertaining to the litigation over the Society's move to Waltham); the Symphony Club (1959-1966); the Penn. Advisory Committee, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1958-1960); the Penn. Alcoholic Beverage Study (1961-1967); the Heart Association of Southeastern Penn. (1964-1965); the National Committee on Employment of Youth (1965-1968); the American Bar Association Special Committee on Investigation, Solicitation and Handling of Personal Injury Claims (1957-1959); the Committee on Legal Ethics and Grievances (1961-1969); the Penn. Prison Society (1964-1969); the Phila. YM & YWHA (1925-1940, 1967-1968); the Hebrew Sunday School Society (1919-1970); the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, with special reference to Edmond Cahn's opposition to the establishment of Reform Jewish day schools (1964-1965); the Hebrew Union College (1964-1968); B'nai B'rith (1957-1967) and the Philadelphia Bar Assoc. (1937-1977).

Milton Weill was known for his work in philanthropic Jewish organizations. Among the many presidential, vice-presidential, and board member positions he held, he was President of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies (1951-1954), Vice-President of the National Jewish Welfare Board, and a board member of the United Jewish Appeal and the American Jewish Committee. He was also the Director of the United Services Organizations, Overseer of Brandeis University's Graduate School of Social Welfare and Honorary Vice President and board member of the 92nd Street Y in New York. Prior to the 92nd Street Y, he was a board member of the 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association and was Honorary Chairman of the Board of Associated Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Assocations of New York. The Milton J. Weill Art Gallery is located at the 92nd Street Y. Mr. Weill graduated from Columbia University and served in France during World War I. The papers include correspondence, telegrams, postcards, maps, artifacts, posters, photographs, lectures, sketch typescripts, and scrapbooks from World War I, his tenure at the Jewish Welfare Board, and personal correspondence.

This collection consists of the papers of Nathan Perlmutter, a lawyer, lecturer, author, political activist, and a long-time leader of the American Jewish community. It contains certificates, newspaper clippings, correspondence — including numerous condolence cards and letters sent to his family after his death — manuscripts and drafts of Perlmutter’s writings, obituaries, printed materials, programs, and subject files relating to topics he was interested in and that he wrote about.

Contains constitution, resolutions, minutes, reports, correspondence, and other material relating to the activities of the association, established by the professional staff of the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations of America.

The collection documents the National Jewish Welfare Board's (JWB) evolution from an organization founded in 1917 to provide support for soldiers in times of war to an agency involved in all aspects of Jewish life both in the United States and abroad. In 1990 JWB recreated itself as the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America.

The papers of Philip Lax document his work with four major organizations: the American Jewish Historical Society, B'nai B'rith International, National Conference on Soviet Jewry, and Ellis Island Restoration Commission. The collection documents the years 1915 to 2008, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1970s and 1980s. The papers contain photographs, correspondence, speeches, publications, subject files, and organizational records, such as minutes, financials, memorandums, agendas, and reports.

The collection contains various documents pertaining to Rabbi Dr. Isaac Prager and his son the psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Prager.

The collection documents the activities of a human rights non-government organization on behalf of Soviet Jewry and Jews in the Former Soviet Union. Organized by Harold Light in San Francisco in 1967, the group worked to bring the Soviet Jewry issue to national and international attention. The collection contains correspondence, minutes, case files, publications, newspaper clippings, card files of Refuseniks, subject files, audio/visual materials, and information on other Soviet Jewry and interreligious organizations. Also included are materials relating to Soviet Jewish emigration, Cold War relations, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and human rights conditions in Russia and the former Soviet republics.

William Korey Papers document life and works of a prominent human rights expert who played a leadership role in the American Soviet Jewry movement. Dr. Korey served as a regional director of Anti-Defamation League and later as a founding director of B'nai Brith International's U.N. office which worked on the problem of discrimination faced by the Jews in the Soviet Union. Dr. Korey was deeply involved in the processes pivotal to the success of the Sovet Jewry movement, such as the defense of the Helsinki Accords and the adoption of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Parallel to his work on behalf of Soviet Jewry Dr. Korey participated in the efforts to realize the U.S. ratification of the genocide treaty that eventually came to fruition in 1988. William Korey authored hundreds of articles and essays and a number of books on the subjects related to the Jews in the Soviet Union. He taught at the Long Island University, City College of New York, Columbia University, Brooklyn College and several other major universities. The William Korey papers include materials from the late 1940s through 2010, and the bulk of the collection is dated 1970s-1990s. The documents include manuscripts, correspondence, notes, publications, news clippings, photographs and a data CD.